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Zarosianism
|text1=Full power |item2= |text2=Damaged}}This page addresses information about Zaros, his religion, and his followers as it applies to World 42 roleplaying. Any valuable contributors are welcome to contribute, especially as new content comes out in-game. Zaros Zaros, also known as The Empty Lord, Great Lord, God of Unknown Power, and is The Divine Aspect of Darkness Energy, whose arrival in Gielinor was one of the most important events of the early Second Age. He is most closely thought of as the God of Control and Manipulation, but is instead more of an observer than a string puller. He is an anomaly in that he is a god that The Adventurer learns of, over time, from books of information about him, and yet it is still very unclear what his alignment is. However, while he may have ruled a pleasant society, it's clear that he was not aligned distinctly with "good" (like Saradominist Order or Armadylean Law) as evidenced by his willingness to associate with "dark" creatures, but neither was he aligned with evil; he sought for a way that all mortal races might flourish. His symbol is a circle with an X in the center and four points around the outer edge. His signature color is purple. Brief History : For a complete overview of Zaros' history, see the 'associated page' on the RuneScape Wiki. Zaros was created aeons ago by the Elder Goddess Mah on the world known as Frenskae, together with his sister Seren. He disagreed with Mah's treatment of the duo as toys and eventually left to explore the universe. Over the course of his travels, he both learned and taught a great many things. Between others, he first encountered the Demons of Infernus and then the Vampyres of Vampyrium, learning of language and society from the Demons, and then passing those crucial elements of society onto the once primitive Vampyres. Zaros arrived in Gielinor after Guthix entered his first sleep. It is likely that Guthix and Zaros, as well as their followers, have little to no relationship. After his arrival, Zaros persuaded the Mahjarrat, a powerful race of near-immortals, to join his forces. Zaros conquered much of the what is now Misthalin, Asgarnia and the whole of what is now the Wilderness, which was then a fertile plain. He founded several cities, of which Senntisten became the capital of his empire. Because of this massive, prosperous community, the Second Age began was known as the Golden Age of Zaros. This empire crumbled when Zaros was betrayed and banished by his foremost general, Zamorak. At Zamorak's return, most of Zaros' followers abandoned their original god and sided with Zamorak. There were notable exceptions however, including the fortress city of Padewwa and the magnificent capital of Zaros' empire, Senntisten. Before the God Wars during the third age, some Saradominists attempted to wipe the memory of Zaros from Gielinor. The Saradominists locked away a group of Zarosians, including Nex in a dungeon close to the present day God Wars Dungeon. The remaining followers of Zaros were actively hunted by followers of both Saradomin and Zamorak. Even during the God Wars, when Zamorak battled with other gods, he occasionally joined forces with Saradomin to fight off the remaining followers of Zaros. At present, Zaros is reachable by a communion portal in an ancient temple of Senntisten under the Digsite. As a result of the Grandmaster Quest "Fate of the Gods", Zaros has returned to Gielinor in corporeal form, though his presence is officially unknown to all except the most trusted of his followers: Nex, Azzanadra, Sliske, Char and Wahisietel. There were choices in the quest that determined Zaros' status when he returned, such as being injured or not. Choices like these are normally not considered in roleplay except in the case of a release of statistics. The majority choice by large was to let Zaros back in to Gielinor uninhibited.(The IMGUR picture and JMod threads would have been linked but they have since been deleted.) The Religion Any real, concrete records of the ways of Zaros have been destroyed by Saradomin and Zamorak. As such, there is no absolutely "correct" way of worshipping him or carrying on his ideals. Some of Zaros's followers are evil in the conventional sense of being ruthless, enjoying being deceptive and seeking power for power's sake. In addition, the Ancient Curses seem to be evil (or at least highly combative) in nature: they focus on inflicting damage on others and draining others of their powers. Although some may jump to the conclusion that Zaros is evil, evidence is inconclusive. It is very likely Zaros' army of demons and vampyres committed evil acts, but there are no records of Zaros himself promoting evil: however, it is likewise true that there are no records of him promoting good. Additionally, even creatures who did not and do not follow Saradomin or Zamorak, such as the Pharaoh Queen, call Zaros a 'vile creature' whom they clashed against long ago, though this is likely because of his war with the Menaphite Pantheon. This leaves an interesting window open for roleplayers, as Zarosian characters have the opportunity to interpret Zarosian teachings in their own way from what they have learned of their god. Furthermore, Zaros' ideals and goals have changed since the fall of his empire, which may lead to confusion once it becomes more widely known that he has returned to Gielinor. Philosophy Zaros views his own faith as not so much a faith, but a philosophy. He seeks to guide mortals on the path to power and leadership while not directly interfering. In truth, Zaros' beliefs are similar to that of Guthix; he has enough respect for mortals to step aside and let them do what comes naturally, to let them make their own choices. Zaros is not so much a controller as an observer of sorts, and can be comparable to an older sibling trying to guide his youngers towards greatness, instead of forcing them and punishing them if they disobey. This is a change from his earlier attempts; as Zaros stated himself, he realized that pushing mortals into believing or doing something would always result in resistance, which is why he now wants to attempt to guide them. Followers and Zarosian Creatures *Some Mahjarrat (including Azzanadra, Wahisietel) *Nex and her Bodyguards *Char *Few Humans (Desert Bandits, for example) *Ancient Mages, Rangers, and Warriors *Some Vampyres *Possibly Kalphites *Possibly Mort'ton shades *Blood Reavers *Some Demons *Dragon Riders (As referenced in the book obtained while fighting the King Black Dragon) *Nihils (Zarytes) Common Mistakes This category addresses traits that players, often new ones, give their Zarosian characters but that aren't actually seen in Zarosians on Gielinor. That is, a character may have these traits, but it would not be expressly due to the teachings of the Zarosian religion. *Because of fervent Saradomnist and Zamorakian crusading against Zarosianism, many Zarosians may hesitate even now to be open about their religion, nevermind preach about it, even though Zarosianism is now once again public thanks to the coming of emissaries. *Almost all Zarosian history and followers were destroyed between the second and fourth ages. The likelihood that a character is Zarosian is especially slim, so those wishing to create Zarosian characters need be very careful to give good reason for how that character found the religion. **Although, recent events regarding the death of Guthix, the coming sixth age, and new activity of Zarosian god emissaries makes it very plausible that a character may newly convert to Zarosianism. The rarity of Zarosian characters now only applies to characters who were Zarosian before the turn of the sixth age. *Contrary to popular belief, commonfolk could easily have heard about the ancient god, Zaros, even before the coming of emissaries. The Varrock museum is chock full of his artifacts and explicitly use his name. That being said, it's one thing to have heard of an ancient god and another to practice his religion - that would be like a person in our world worshipping an obscure Egyptian god. *Zaros never had control over the desert. This misconception is due to the fact that Azzanadra was imprisoned there, and the final worshipers of Zaros, who are now the bandits, went into hiding there. *Not ALL Zarosians can use Ancient Magicks. It was a magic limited to those who were higher in the armies of Zaros. (Mahjarrat, a select number of humans, Nex, etc) It would be wise to take this into consideration when making a human Zarosian. Other Information *Viggora was the only human general Zaros ever had and was often picked on, because the other Zarosian generals didn't think humans capable of anything worthwhile. It was for this reason that Viggora aided Zamorak in his coup. Media Gallery Gallifreyan Zaros.jpg|Zaros, written in Gallifreyan. 120px-Torva_armour_male.png|A suit of armour worn by the ancient Zarosian warrior Torva Glacies.png|Glacies, a powerful Zarosian mage aiding Nex 319px-Nex.png|Nex, an abnormally large Nihil given sentience by Zaros ZarosDefeated_origins.png|Zaros is stabbed through with the Staff of Armadyl by Zamorak 572px-Ancient_staff_detail.png|Zaros's symbol atop the ancient staff Zaros Concept Art.png|Concept art of Zaros Damaged zaros back.png|Damaged Zaros as seen from behind Audio The theme played when Zaros forms a new body: Category:Lore Category:Religion Category:Guides Category:Ancient Magic user Category:Zarosian